Vaccination Resources

Vaccines and long-term care facilities

A recording and materials are available for the February 2022 webinar, Accelerating boosters to support safe visitation for long-term care residents: watch on YouTube and download a list of resources presented during the webinar. The webinar, hosted by ACL and the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care, explored the important role families play in residents’ decisions to get boosters and how families can help their loved ones get fully protected. It also discussed strategies for ACL’s networks to effectively engage families on the importance of boosters. Speakers from CMS and the White House COVID-19 Response Team shared the latest information on boosters. 

Important Information for States: Coverage and Payment of Vaccines and Vaccine Administration under Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and Basic Health Program

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released an updated State Medicaid, Children's Health Insurance Program, & Basic Health Program Vaccine Toolkit. This updated toolkit serves as a consolidated and comprehensive compilation of vaccination policies, including related flexibilities and coverage and payment requirements, for states to consider as they transition away from the COVID-19 public health emergency and implement Inflation Reduction Act coverage requirements. It also includes additional considerations states may make to enhance vaccination coverage and access including provider qualifications, immunization registries, and payment considerations. 

ACL/CDC partnership to increase access to COVID-19 vaccines for older adults and people with disabilities

2022

ACL awarded two grants totaling $125 million to rapidly increase the number of older adults and people with disabilities who have received the updated COVID-19 vaccine.

The two grants have complementary, but distinct, areas of focus: 

1. Option A ($75 million): Will establish and leverage partnerships and engagement with area agencies on aging, state No Wrong Door systems/aging and disability resource centers, centers for independent living, other ACL-funded disability networks, and other community-based organizations that serve older adults and people with disabilities.  
2. Option B ($50 million): Will build and leverage partnerships with senior centers, community centers, and local community- and faith-based organizations that reach older adults and people with disabilities.

Both programs will prioritize reaching older adults and people with disabilities who have been historically underserved and who face additional barriers to accessing vaccines, including but not limited to those who are from communities of color, LGBTQ+, Native American, live in rural areas, are at risk of institutionalization, low income, or have limited English proficiency. The grantees selected for each option will closely coordinate efforts to ensure their activities are complementary, rather than duplicative. 
 
For more information, read about the two grants, one to USAging and the other to NCOA.

2021

On March 29, President Biden announced several actions to expand access to COVID-19 vaccines, including an exciting partnership between ACL and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to increase vaccine access for people with disabilities and older adults.

These grants will provide assistance with scheduling vaccine appointments, transportation to vaccine sites, direct support services needed to attend vaccine appointments, connection to in-home vaccination options, and education about the importance of receiving the vaccine to older adults and people with disabilities. In addition, these grants will enable the aging and disability networks to identify people who are unable to independently travel to vaccination sites and to provide technical assistance to local health departments on improving access to vaccines for people with disabilities and older adults.

Approximately $5 million will fund national hotlines to connect older adults and people with disabilities with local disability and aging agencies that can assist with vaccine registration and provide services and supports necessary to get the vaccine. This funding will increase the capacity of the Eldercare Locator, a nationwide service funded by ACL that connects older Americans and their caregivers with trustworthy local support resources. It also will leverage the infrastructure of the Eldercare Locator to provide, for the first time, a similar service for people with disabilities. 

An additional $93 million will be distributed as follows:

• State Units on Aging and Area Agencies on Aging ($50 million)
• Aging and Disability Resource Centers ($26 million)
• Centers for Independent Living that receive federal funding directly from ACL. ($5 million)
• University Centers of Excellence in Developmental Disabilities ($4 million)
• Protection and Advocacy systems ($4 million)
• State Councils on Developmental Disabilities ($4 million)

Learn more about this partnership.

ACL guidance for the aging and disability networks

• ACL-CDC partnership to increase vaccine access: Funding FAQs for Developmental Disabilities Act programs:
  • Protection and Advocacy Program
  • State Councils on Developmental Disabilities
  • University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities 
  • Centers for Independent Living
• ACL's COVID Vaccination FAQs for the Aging Network. This FAQ answers questions about vaccination administration and associated activities and costs.
• Frequently Asked Questions on COVID-19 Vaccine Access Funding for No Wrong Door Systems/Aging and Disability Resource Centers

Expanding vaccine access for people with disabilities and older adults

• In November 2022, Acting ACL Administrator Alison Barkoff joined an online discussion with Surgeon General Vivek Murthy about the power of partnerships in increasing bivalent vaccination of older adults and people with disabilities. Representatives from two ACL-funded aging and disability service providers — Walter Glomb, executive director of the Connecticut Council on Developmental Disabilities, and Bev Kidder , vice president of community programs at the Area Agency on Aging of South Central Connecticut — also participated in the discussion, sharing powerful stories of how collaboration can help older adults and people with disabilities get vaccinated.
• Able South Carolina, Independent Living Resource Utilization (ILRU), and the CDC Foundation are expanding eligibility for grant-based funding to Centers for Independent Living (CILs) to support vaccination access for people with disabilities. Eligible CILs now include: Part B CILs that did not receive CARES Act funding, Part B CILs operating under a Part C CIL, Part C CILs not previously eligible for CARES Act funding in fiscal year 2020, and any Part B or Part C CIL working to improve COVID-19 vaccine access in unserved counties (funding must be used in underserved communities). Awards of up to $50,000 are anticipated. Interested eligible CILs are encouraged to apply for funding by completing an online application by 12:00 pm (noon) ET on Monday, January 24."Strategies for Helping Older Adults and People with Disabilities Access COVID-19 Vaccines" is a document developed by ACL that offers examples and promising practices for states, municipalities, community-based partners, and anyone else working to ensure that older adults and people with disabilities can get vaccinated for COVID-19.
• How ACL’s Disability and Aging Network is Advancing Vaccination Efforts
• A recording and slides from ACL's September 30, 2021 webinar, "Emergency Rental Assistance Program: Tools to Assist the People You Serve," are now available. View the webinar on YouTube for tools and information to help the people you serve learn more about, and apply for, Emergency Rental Assistance. The slides have links and additional useful information.
• The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced an additional payment amount for administering in-home COVID-19 vaccinations to Medicare beneficiaries who have difficulty leaving their homes or are otherwise hard-to-reach. This effort will help the approximately 1.6 million adults 65 or older who may have trouble accessing COVID-19 vaccinations because they have difficulty leaving home.
• The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and HHS have released a toolkit to support community health centers and HUD-assisted housing and homeless programs to partner on COVID-19 vaccination delivery, COVID-19 testing, and health care for residents of public housing, low-income housing (including housing for older adults and people with disabilities), and people experiencing homelessness.
• To ensure Medicare beneficiaries who have difficulty leaving their homes or are otherwise hard-to-reach can receive COVID-19 vaccinations, CMS announced in August 2021 that health care providers can receive additional payments for administering vaccines to multiple residents in one home setting or communal setting of a home. This includes smaller group homes, assisted living facilities, and other group living situations.
• CDC Community-Based Organizations Vaccine Toolkit
• HHS' We Can Do This campaign has developed English and Spanish vaccination education toolkits which include resources for older adults, caregivers, and aging organizations to build vaccine confidence.
• On May 11, CMS announced a new rule to improve COVID-19 vaccine access for older adults and people with disabilities in congregate settings. This new policy is a powerful step in furthering the Biden Administration’s commitment to equitable vaccine access and ensuring that those who are most at risk – including people living in congregate settings – have access.  It also advances the Administration’s focus on racial equity by improving access to vaccines for staff, the majority of whom are women of color.  This blog post by ACL Acting Administrator has more details.
• Transportation resources:
  • LISC, Uber, Paypal Giving Fund, and Walgreens have joined forces to create the Vaccine Access Fund addressing health inequities and facilitating rides to vaccination sites and other places where people can learn about the vaccine from trusted contacts. Organization interested in funding can complete this form.
  • The National Aging and Disability Transportation Center has compiled a list of programs providing transportation or connecting older adults and people with disabilities to vaccination sites.
• FEMA blog: Easing the Vaccination Process for People with Developmental Disabilities."
• Interested in helping with the COVID-19 vaccination effort? Find out about the opportunity to join the COVID-19 Community Corps. This COVID-19 public education campaign will increase vaccine confidence while reinforcing basic prevention measures. Corps members Corps member receive resources to help build vaccine confidence in the community.
• The HHS Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) released a brief on the potential barriers to accessing the COVID-19 vaccine faced by homebound older adults.

Beware of vaccination-related scams

Scammers rapidly alter their tactics and adapt their schemes to the changing landscape, and we anticipate that they will leverage the COVID-19 vaccine to prey on unsuspecting people. Be vigilant and protect yourself from potential fraud concerning COVID-19 vaccines and treatments.

Here are things you need to know about the COVID-19 vaccine:

• You will not be solicited door to door to receive the vaccine.
• No one from Medicare or the Health Department will contact you.
• No one from a vaccine distribution site or health care payer, like a private insurance company, will call you asking for your Medicare number, Social Security number, or your credit card or bank account information to sign you up to get the vaccine.

The Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) is ready to provide you with the information you need to PROTECT yourself from Medicare fraud, errors, and abuse; DETECT potential fraud, errors, and abuse; and REPORT your concerns. SMPs help educate and empower Medicare beneficiaries in the fight against health care fraud. Your SMP can help you with your questions, concerns, or complaints about potential fraud and abuse issues. It also provides information and educational presentations. To locate your local Senior Medicare Patrol, call 1-877-808-2468 or visit www.smpresource.org.

More Information

• SMP COVID-19 Fraud Page
• Scam Example: Eventbrite Fake Vaccination Appointments Scam 
• Federal Trade Commission warns of COVID-19 Vaccine Scams

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